San Antonio’s adopted “Telenovela” and “Desperate Housewives” star, who revealed to TV critics recently that she’s an ace at rapping, donned her finest apple bottom jeans and boots with the fur for her lip sync performance of Flo Rida’s “Low.”

Longoria, bent on winning, is not above shaking her famous booty to stir up the crowd. Watch here:

Tim Duncan: TV hero

SAN ANTONIO — As a fantasy fan himself, Spurs forward Tim Duncan would likely smile over his name being dropped by one of the most iconic characters in sci-fi TV, Fox Mulder of “The X-Files.”

The scene was part of the fourth episode of the show’s revival that aired Monday night on Fox.

Its subject: The treating of people like trash. One storyline dealt with the herding away of the homeless on the streets of Philly to make way for gentrification: the building and renovation of houses in poor and rundown areas to encourage a “better class” of people.

We watch as one of those responsible for the herding, a government worker named Joseph Cutler, seems to get his comeuppance from a tall and powerful mystery monster known as the Band-Aid Nose Man. Cutler is brutally torn apart by the intruder, his head thrown into a trashcan and both arms discarded in a garbage truck.

In any event, FBI agents Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) travel to Philly to investigate the incomprehensible crime. Examining the angle of the security camera, Mulder deduces that the killer must be “about Tim Duncan height.” He then makes a crack about the Sixers, eliminating any of those players “because those guys can’t find the rim.”

Watch it here:

According to Vulture, the episode’s writer Glen Morgan, an “X-Files” veteran, likes to insert sports references.

In any event, it’s great to see more entertainment shows referencing San Antonio’s previously ignored Spurs – ABC comedy “Black-ish” has done it repeatedly – and finally recognizing the team’s place in the annals of NBA greatness.

Super Bowl commercials

SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio contributed talent — both human and animal — to two nifty commercials that ran during the Super Bowl Sunday night.

For starters, that was an S.A. native interacting with movie star Christopher Walken in the national Kia Optima ad that aired during the third quarter of the game.

Alamo Heights graduate Steven Pritchard, an actor now in Los Angeles, co-starred with Walken in the “Walken Closet” spot.

His character, Richard, encounters Walken in his closet when he goes inside to find a pair of beige socks.

Walken begins by asking Richard if he really wants beige socks or something more exciting.

After all, “eventually, the beige sock people get devoured by the ones who stand out,” the actor says menacingly.

He illustrates this by showing a wild pair of spotted socks, which Walken wears as a hand puppet, eating the beige pair in his other hand. He then opens up the closet walls to reveal a Kia Optima: “It’s like the world’s most exciting pair of socks but a mid-size sedan.”

Watch it here:

Pritchard’s dad, Steven J. Pritchard, owner of local financial institution consulting firm (Steven J. Pritchard & Associates), was proud as can be that his son’s acting talent had such an impressive TV showcase. “I think 150 million people viewing is pretty good exposure.”

He said his son’s experience with Walken “was spectacular … very special. Walken was a terrific guy to work with and acted like a mentor.”

Pritchard said Steven, 34, has been in several films and TV shows, and recently started shooting a movie with Scott Eastwood called “Mercury Plains.”

“But to put food on the table,” his dad added, “he also auditions for commercials.”

Steven is a graduate of the class of 2000 at Alamo Heights. He went on to study theater arts at University of Texas at Austin. As a junior, he was recruited to join famed Chicago comedy troupe, Second City. He finished his degree at Columbia College in Chicago.

Alamo City kitties

The other commercial was local and ran right before the Super Bowl halftime show:

Express Lube, which boasts 32 area locations, subbed two darling local cats for sportscasters in the second part of its clever ad. The four-legged actors belong to Carla and Richard Veliz.

“We wanted to make a Super Bowl spot that was really fun,” said Matthew Kramer, director of marketing for Express Lube. So, in working with JEH Productions here (the media company owned by actor Jackie Earle Haley), they came up with one utilizing cats — dressed up as the sportscasters that led off the commercial.

“We found two that were used to being in front of lights,” he said, adding the neckties were special-made for them. Here’s the comedic result:

Eva Longoria

SAN ANTONIO – The cover story of the Feb. 12 issue of Entertainment Weekly has S.A.’s adopted star Eva Longoria opening up with three other Hollywood actresses — Reese Witherspoon, Kerry Washington and Elizabeth Banks — on everything from Hollywood sexism to the power of social media.

Photo: James White for EW

The magazine introduces the round table discussion this way: Dressed as casual as can be in white button-down shirts and blue jeans, the women dish on everything from the rumors that prompt calls from mom to how information revealed through the Sony hack revolutionized Hollywood.

For instance, Longoria blasts online sites that spread rumors without corroboration — such as “Is Eva expecting?” She said social media, which the “Telenovela” actress is an ace at, has helped give her a strong voice.

“I remember starting on Twitter,” she said. “I loved the immediate way I could correct things. At the time there were just so may lies. It was stupid stuff, like ‘Eva’s pregnant, Eva’s pregnant, Eva’s pregnant.’ I’m like, ‘Guys, I ate a burger. I’m not pregnant.’ … because my mom would call!”

She also recalled the time one of the “husbands” on “Desperate Housewives” asked her to lobby for the men on the show to get more pay. Listen to what she says here:

Revamping 'The Muppets'

SAN ANTONIO – It took a trip to Manu Ginobili country – Argentina – during the holidays to turn Miss Piggy into a kinder, gentler version of herself.

You’ll see the changes in the revamped return of “The Muppets” at 7:30 tonight on ABC-TV.

But don’t worry, Piggy fans!

She’s still the crazy narcissist you’ve loved for years, just a softer-spoken, more tolerant version, one that – yes! – Kermit could fall for again.

That’s right. The chemistry between frog and pig is revived again in the first episode when the two sing a duet on Piggy’s late-night show — “In Spite of Ourselves,” by folk artist John Prine.

Sadly, Piggy didn’t run into our beloved Ginobili during her restorative trip to his homeland.

However, she does bring back a pet penguin in a tote bag that she names Gloria Estefan.

In any event, the series’ new showrunner Kristin Newman seems to have succeeded in infusing “The Muppets” with, as she promised at a recent ABC cocktail party, “more joy, more heart, more of the classic feel of ‘The Muppets.’ ”

Some changes:

A human villain arrives at the network in the form of a branding guru named Pache (Utkarsh Ambudkar, “The Mindy Project”). So now, Newman explained, the Muppets have an antagonist – other than Piggy – to fight against. . .together.

Pache has all kinds of slick changes in mind for her late-night show that are just awful, such as a young YouTube celeb coming in as co-host.

Fortunately, Kermit and his cohorts come up with their own show improvements, such as using the Muppets on the show more – in cooking segments, musical numbers, updated classic “Muppets” sketches and more.

Also: Comic duo Key & Peele guest star on the midseason opener and convince a paranoid Piggy to channel Miley Cyrus for more impact. . .and to Kermit’s chagrin, she does just that.

Her transformation — complete with blonde braids, a foam finger straight out of Cyrus’ gig on the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards and, yes, twerking — is a real giggle.

An object of his pubescent lust? None other than Ana Sofia, the show’s lead character played by Eva Longoria. She’s wearing a skimpy bikini in a photo hidden under the boy’s mattress.

More details:

Kitty Hawk Middle School student De La Cruz plays a 13-year-old going through puberty, his dad revealed in a phone chat.

“He plays the oldest son of Eva’s best friend on the series, Mimi (Diana Maria Riva),” Juan De La Cruz said.

He went on to explain that the two, Ana Sofia (Longoria) and Mimi, find some racy videos and magazines in the boy’s room.

Ana notices that the skimpily-dressed models are of all types of races and ethnicities, and remarks favorably to Mimi that she has “a multi-cultural kid.”

It certainly appears he likes Latinas, Mimi notes, pointing to a photo of Eva’s character in a bikini.

Naturally, this is a shock to Ana Sofia, as she’s always felt like the boy’s aunt.

The two then recruit the help of the whole cast to figure out how to give Mimi’s son “the sex talk.”

Sebastien, 13, isn’t scheduled to be in any more episodes this season, his dad said. However, Longoria believes the teen’s an acting natural, he added, and could invite him back.

Sebastien already is known by people across the globe for the hateful backlash and subsequent outcry of support — by everyone from Whoopi Goldberg to President Obama — that surrounded the young singer’s first national anthem performance at the Spurs-Heat 2013 NBA Finals.

The “America’s Got Talent” semifinalist put on the traditional mariachi suit he always wears to public performances and delivered the anthem passionately on ABC-TV.

Many praised his performance, but others derided the young singer with ugly tweets that amounted to “Why is that Mexican singing our national anthem?” and “Go home.”

The Spurs, however, backed De La Cruz 100 percent, inviting him back twice to perform the anthem at subsequent NBA Finals games.

De La Cruz also enjoyed another moment in the national TV spotlight when he taught the bachelors how to sing like a mariachi in last year’s edition of “The Bachelorette” on ABC.

'Agent Carter's' S.A. actress

SAN ANTONIO – The young Agent Carter will be introduced in Tuesday’s episode of the hit comic book series – and a 9-year-old San Antonio girl portrays her.

“I am so excited,” Gabriella Graves, who was born and raised in the Alamo City, said of her first TV role.

Gabriella Graves in ‘Agent Carter’ mode. Photo: Courtesy

“Marvel’s Agent Carter,” a television series inspired by the “Captain America” movies, is in its second season on ABC. Look for it at 8 p.m. Tuesday on KSAT.

Graves’ mom, Michelle, said the scene – a flashback showing Peggy Carter as a child – will air at the start of the episode, so keep those eyes peeled.

“Currently, it’s just one episode,” Michelle said, “but if Agent Carter has another flashback, Gabi will do it again.”

One reason the S.A. youngster was chosen is she resembles star Hayley Atwell; both have brown hair and eyes.

Since it was a speaking role, Texan Gabriella had to work on her English accent in order to sound like the London-born actress who plays the British secret agent living in America.

How did Gabriella hone that accent for the role?

“We had gone to Australia a couple of times because we have friends there,” Gabriella said.

Haley Atwell as ‘Agent Carter.’ Photo: ABC

“That accent is a laid-back version of a British accent. So what I did was make the accent a little bit proper.”

She also got to hang with Atwell a bit – along with handsome Dominic Cooper, who plays Howard Stark.

“It was in the makeup trailer when I went for my costume fitting. They were really cool — so nice and very funny. ”

Gabriella’s love for acting convinced her parents to move to Los Angeles late last year.

“We knew there was something there,” her mom said. “She has the personality for it –a born entertainer.”

Besides, Gabriella was born into a performing family.

“My husband and I have a music ministry,” Michelle Graves said, referring to the Justin Graves Band.

“So Gabi has been on stage with us since she was a baby. We travel and play at churches, camps and conferences.”

Their daughter started her own stage training at the age of 2. She took creative movement classes at the old Stone Oak Youth Theatre.

Gabriella, who attended Summit Christian Academy in Boerne a few days a week while being home schooled in San Antonio, soon graduated to acting roles. At the age of 7, she starred in a production of “Anne of Green Gables.”

“She sings, acts, dances a bit,” her mom said.

Gabriella got further direction from an organization called Actors Models and Talent for Christ, which provides aspiring performers with industry introductions along with spiritual encouragement.

“It launched us into the crazy world we’re living in now,” Michelle said.

Soon, Gabriella was signed by a Hollywood agency – Osbrink – and started experiencing the life of a budding actress: auditions and call backs.

Prior to working on “Agent Carter,” the youngster was cast in an independent short film titled “Chased.”

So far, though, the Marvel TV series has been her biggest break. You can bet her proud S.A. grandma, Mary Beth Edgerton, will be glued to Tuesday’s episode.

Young Gabi, too, can’t wait to finally see her work on the small screen. “Mom, dad and I are going to get pizza,” she said, “and come back and watch it!”

S.A.'s longtime weathercasters

SAN ANTONIO – In a first for San Antonio, a local TV meteorologist has been named National Weatherperson of the Year.

“It took my breath away,” recipient Alex Garcia, the chief weathercaster at Fox affiliate KABB-TV and an S.A. television staple for more than three decades, said in a phone chat Wednesday. He was on his way to the celebration to be held in Orlando, Fla. today.

Alex Garcia not only is the recipient of a huge national weather honor, but found out recently that he’s beaten cancer. (Courtesy KABB-TV)

“The only other two people who have gotten it are Jim Cantore of The Weather Channel and Max Mayfield of the National Hurricane Center. That puts me into some pretty nice company,” Garcia said.

The award, created by the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH), is presented to a weatherperson with a record of proven commitment to protecting the public from severe weather through excellence in communication and service to the disaster safety and resilience movement.

Garcia said the honor is connected with National Weatherperson’s Day on Feb. 5.

He doesn’t know who nominated him, Garcia said, but suspects he’ll find out at the ceremony.

Folks at his TV station also are swelling with pride.

“We are very excited for Alex to be chosen for this recognition,” Blaise Labbe, director of news for WOAI and KABB, wrote in an email. “He has a true passion for forecasting weather and ensuring viewers are kept safe at times of severe weather this is a well-deserved honor. “

The meteorologist, who has delivered the forecasts on two local stations for a grand total of 33 years – 13 at KENS-TV and 20 at KABB — certainly has proven his dedication to viewers in the Alamo City.

He even soldiered on during a particularly difficult past several years. In 2012, he discovered he had cancer.

In a letter, shared by KABB in 2014, Garcia revealed he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Mantel cell lymphoma. “It is a blood cancer that affects the lymphocytes or white blood cells,” he wrote. “The lymphocytes help the body fight off infections and diseases. They are found in bone marrow, the spleen and lymph nodes. This is a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma that can aggressively spread to many parts of the body. In my case, it had spread to all my lymph nodes from my neck down to my abdomen.”

Though he underwent chemotherapy treatments, Garcia never complained or missed a beat, showing up faithfully at work night after night.

Alejandro, who was born in the Alamo City and spent part of his childhood here before moving to the small West Texas town of Snyder, also has had key roles as cops in CBS’ short-lived series “Golden Boy” and A&E’s “The Returned.”

But it was his two seasons as Det. Nate Moretta on “Southland” that influenced him the most.

“I think I would be a good cop in real life,” Alejandro, 39, told me after a “Lucifer” press session in Pasadena, Calif.

“I’m very suspicious and aware of who’s around me. The training in ‘Southland’ was so extensive that it made me that way,” he said, adding that he brings the police skills he learned on the TNT drama to everything he does.

The supernatural aspect of “Lucifer” also is familiar to Alejandro, who portrayed a warlock in “True Blood” and Sebastian Blood in comic book drama “Arrow.”

In the new “Lucifer,” he plays a very human L.A. detective who becomes concerned when the devilish central character joins forces with his estranged wife and police precinct colleague.

Based on characters created by Neil Gaiman, the drama shows what happens when Lucifer abandons his throne in Hell and heads to Los Angeles.

As played by handsome Brit Tom Ellis, Lucifer is devilishly charismatic. He also has a talent for drawing out people’s darkest secrets. When a brutal murder of a friend of his attracts the attention of homicide detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German, “Chicago Fire”), he becomes hell-bent on helping her find the perpetrators.

He soon discovers a passion for punishing the guilty on earth. Chloe is initially dismissive of Lucifer, but his crime-solving talents begin to make her intrigued.

“Dan, he’s a hard worker. He’s a great cop. He had a great family and dedicated his life to more work and realized that he lost the best part of him,” Alejandro, a husband and dad himself, said at the “Lucifer” press session.

“And so now you see him struggle to win that back. And then there’s this tall, striking, handsome dude stabbing him in the side every time he’s around. So it’s a really interesting triangle of competition that I think turned out to be pretty funny.”

Executive producer Joe Henderson said the conflicts between the two become even juicier in future episodes.

“The fun of it is here’s a guy who just lost the family he wants, and maybe he can get it back,” Henderson said. “Maybe he can’t. And he’s already in over his head on that. And then here comes Lucifer and the strange, strange world that he’s a part of. And he’s just it’s a lot of fun to play with colliding those two worlds together.”

'Unleashing Mr. Darcy'

SAN ANTONIO – Memo to San Antonio TV viewers: Why not make a date with a rich and tension-filled romance that sprang from the imagination of an Alamo Heights woman?

“Unleashing Mr. Darcy,” a modern American take on the antagonistic-turned-passionate relationship at the center of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” bows at 8 tonight on Hallmark Channel.

Teri Wilson, longtime S.A. resident and the author of the book the movie’s based on, is crossing her fingers that the tune-in will be hefty enough to convince Hallmark to pick up another one of her many stories. She’s celebrating her exciting accomplishment, in fact, by hosting a special screening for friends at a local theater.

I already have seen “Unleashing Mr. Darcy,” and found it not only entertaining, but swoon-worthy, thanks to an appealing cast led by Ryan Paevey of “General Hospital” fame, Cindy Busby (“Heartland” and “Cedar Cove”) and Frances Fisher (“Titanic”), who’s at her bitchy best.

Paevey, who plays Darcy, said he had a blast helping to bring this particular spin on the Austen tale to life on the small screen.

“I love being part of the ‘Pride and Prejudice’ universe,” the tall, dark and handsome actor told me at a Hallmark party held for TV critics in Pasadena, Calif.

He and Busby more than aptly deliver the prickly repartee and emotional conflict that eventually electrify their climactic kiss in the film.

Moreover, dog lovers will feel they died and went to pooch heaven. Much of the story centers around a series of dog shows that spotlight all sorts of colorful and cuddly breeds.

Busby portrays Elizabeth Scott, a teacher down on her luck after an unjust accusation at her school lands her not only out of a job, but also in potential legal hot water.

Helping to tide her over during this tough time is an invitation to present a friend’s dog at some upcoming New York shows.

The judge, Donovan Darcy, comes across as aristocratic and rude, and a chain of misunderstandings unfold during the competition, complicating their undeniable attraction to one another.

Get a taste of the movie here:

Paevey said he’s a longtime fan of the novel that inspired Wilson’s story. “Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ came into my life in school as an assignment,” he said.

“But it’s a book you revisit several times in your life. As you accrue life experience, you gain perspective and see it with new eyes,” he added.

He’s also “a huge animal person,” he noted. “I turn into a child when I’m around them. And being on set every day with 50 dogs was pretty awesome.”

Author Wilson also is a dog lover. Her own Cavalier King Charles Spaniels were an inspiration for the movie.

Elizabeth’s pup in the film is even named after Wilson’s dog, Bliss.

Oh, and fans of the movie and TV adaptations of “Pride and Prejudice” also can look forward to what’s become known as the sexy Darcy-and-water moment.

In the Colin Firth series, which aired over three nights on A&E cable network back in ’96, his Darcy takes a spontaneous plunge into a lake that leaves his white shirt clinging appealingly to his physique, causing Elizabeth, whom he runs into afterward, to blush uncharacteristically.

In the more recent 2005 film adapation, starring Keira Knightley, a soaking wet Darcy declares his love for Elizabeth while standing in the pouring rain.

In “Unleashing Mr. Darcy,” the water moment happens when Elizabeth unexpectedly runs into Darcy around the pool. He looks distractingly buff in his swim trunks.

“It was so cold — between 7 and 10 degrees Fahrenheit,” Paevey said of the shoot’s wintry day in a small town near Vancouver.

“I had to grit my teeth. But they were lovely and accommodating during breaks with heaters and nice soft towels and robes.”

Noel Wells

Editor’s note: Jeanne Jakle is on the West Coast gathering news about celebrities and new and returning TV shows at the winter Television Critics Association press tour.

PASADENA – “Master of None” co-creator and star Aziz Ansari wouldn’t make it official Sunday whether there would be a second season of his Netflix hit.

However, his San Antonio-born leading lady, Noël Wells, sounded confident that it will happen.

“It’s looking positive,” Wells, who played the girlfriend of Ansari in Season 1 and even announced during an episode that her character of Rachel was from San Antonio, said after a Netflix press session.

Ansari did tell TV critics this in regards to a second round for “None:” “We’re figuring it out.

“The first season was so personal,” he said, adding that he wants to make sure that what they do for Season 2 “will be as good as the first season.”

The fact that Wells, who spent much of her childhood in San Antonio and Boerne — and touts her favorite NBA team, the Spurs, whenever possible — was flown to the West Coast for the press session, makes it seem all the more probable that Netflix will greenlight another season of the comedy.

These days, she’s back in Austin, the home of her alma mater, the University of Texas.

Wells and her boyfriend Flint Wainess are shooting the pilot for a buddy sitcom set in the Texas capital. It’s slated for Comedy Central.

Tentatively titled “Bad Couple,” she described it as “two Larry Davids” in a relationship.

Characters of Fox-TV

Editor’s note: Jeanne Jakle is on the West Coast gathering news about celebrities and new and returning TV shows at the winter Television Critics Association press tour.

PASADENA, Calif. — Tim Curry is joining a new TV production of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” the 1975 movie musical he helped turn into a pop-culture phenomenon, Fox announced to television critics Friday.

Curry, the original Dr. Frank-N-Furter, will portray the Criminologist Narrator in Fox’s two-hour musical event slated for the fall.

“I am very happy and excited to be a part of this new event,” Curry said in a press release.

In this “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” Laverne Cox (“Orange is the New Black”) will portray Dr. Frank-N-Furter; Adam Lambert of “American Idol” fame will play Eddie; Reeve Carney (“Penny Dreadful”) will portray Riff Raff; and Staz Nair (“Game of Thrones”) is the new Rocky.

In other news, Fox has ordered the pilot for a new 12-hour limited series set in the world of “24” – and produced once again by Howard Gordon (“Homeland”).

“This entire cast can sing,” she told TV critics at a press session for her NBC comedy, “Telenovela,” “but not me.”

However, viewers can hear her sing badly in a musical episode of “Telenovela” that will air in two weeks on NBC.

Check it out at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 25.

“Singing with co-star Zachary Levi (who plays her fictional network’s president on “Telenovela”) was an amazing gift,” she said.

“Of course I did it badly,” Longoria added. “But doing it badly makes it more fun.”

Her cast members revealed that Longoria does rap, however. “I rap like nobody’s business,” she said.

Viewers also will finally see Longoria on screen in “Devious Maids,” which she co-executive produces for Lifetime.

She said she’ll be in the fourth season premiere in June.

“I play Eva Longoria, an actress,” she said, “a heightened version of myself.” It also will mark a reunion with her “Desperate Housewives” co-star James Denton, who’ll play the head of a movie studio in Season 4.

“I’m so proud of the show,” she added. “It has such a loyal audience, and it’s still the No. 1 drama on Lifetime.”

As for her funny Golden Globes bit with America Ferrera, Longoria said the viral moment “caused such a macro conversation.”

In case you missed it, the two presented an award together, and poked fun at Latina actresses being mistaken for each other; Eva said she’s often mistaken for Eva Mendes and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association confused Ferrera with “Jane the Virgin” star Gina Rodriguez during the nominations announcement.

“There’s truth in jest. It went over very, very well,” Longoria said.

After the session, a group of us asked to look at her ruby-and-diamond engagement ring that was given to her by fiancé Jose Antonio Baston. (“Pepe” is what she calls him.)

“It’s too big,” she groaned, adding: “I need to get it sized.”

Any wedding plans yet? “No, not yet.”

She should find out in a couple of weeks whether her pilot for ABC — about two political brothers that was loosely inspired by a Vogue article about San Antonio’s political twins – will be picked up for series.

It’s described as a Texas-sized soap filled with lies, blackmail and manipulation.

“It’s a really dark story,” she said. “So it actually has nothing to do with the Castro brothers.”

With Valentine’s Day coming up, a couple of reporters wanted to know her worst memory of the holiday. “When I was a child not getting a valentine from the little boy that I wanted.”

On the heels of NBC’s last wildly successful holiday musical event, “The Wiz,” comes an even crazier treat. Greenblatt said the network’s working on putting together a movie musical of “Hairspray” with executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron once again at the helm.

In other news, the network is rewarding its hard-working, entertaining and versatile late-night host Seth Meyers with a heck of a long-term contract — all the way through to 2021.

“We are planning to do an interview about his experience and what happened to him and I look forward to that, as soon as all the things can be worked out,” Rose said. “We’ll be able to sit down and I have 1,000 questions for Sean. It’s a remarkable story.”

Although a specific time for the TV chat has yet to be determined, Rose said he hopes it will be “sooner rather than later.

‘El Chapo’ — AP photo

“Yes, I”m definitely doing an interview but at what time, we don’t know yet,” the newsman said. “When it will happen will depend on when we can agree on terms of a date of when to do it and that obviously has to do with issues that I’m not familiar with in respect to him.

“I’m prepared to do it whenever I get the greenlight from him and his lawyers.”

Penn’s own sit-down with Guzmán may have led to his capture. That first-ever Q&A with Guzmán was published last week in Rolling Stone.

O’Donnell will co-anchor CBS coverage President Obama’s final State of the Union address with Scott Pelley tonight.

King will conduct the annual Super Bowl interview with the president. This time, however, she’ll sit down in the White House with both Obama and his wife, Michelle, who’ll chat with King about game day.

Meanwhile, Longoria has been all over the tube since her engagement last month and the official debut last week of her NBC comedy.

On “Ellen”” Friday, she told Ellen DeGeneres that she was in no hurry to make wedding plans; she just wants to bask in the glow of her engagement for a while.

She also indicated her man is in no hurry to watch “Desperate Housewives” and her many steamy love scenes.

“He goes, ‘I’m gonna watch. I’m gonna watch. Everybody talks about it. I’m gonna watch.’ And he tries to watch and of course I’m like banging the gardener in the first season, and he’s like. ‘I don’t want to watch!’ I was like, ‘Yeah…yeah, let’s jump to season 5. That’s when I was like not sleeping with anybody,'” Longoria told DeGeneres.

She and Ellen did this over-the-top spoof of her show, “Telenovela:”

Meanwhile, Longoria is set to display her cooking skills on ABC’s “The Chew” next week. ABC has her as a guest in the kitchen on Monday, but KSAT’s listings for the show (at 11 a.m. locally) have her sharing her recipe for fregola in tomato sauce on Tuesday.

Rizzoli’s other buddy – the Isles of the title – is Massachusetts medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles (Sasha Alexander).

McGill has been with the show since its debut in 2010.

New ‘Tales from the Crypt’

HBO photo

Reilly also announced that a new version of “Tales from the Crypt” from M. Night Shyamalan is being produced for TNT. He said there’s no decision yet whether the iconic Crypt Keeper will return for the new horror anthology.

Betsy Britton through the years

SAN ANTONIO — Members of San Antonio’s radio community are grieving over the loss of one of their own.

S.A. radio’s Betsy Britton. Photo courtesy of Saundra Reyna.

Betsy Britton, a longtime staple of the local airwaves, died Saturday night. She was 61.

Britton, whose career in broadcasting spanned four decades, was best known for the years she toiled as a traffic reporter on news-talk WOAI (1200 AM). She pleased listeners with her sultry voice. (I frequently got notes from fans, particularly in the 1990s, asking if I’d show the face behind that distinctive voice).

She also could be heard on KONO (101.1 FM), country station KKYX, KTFM (94.1 FM) and other stations.

“She made an impression wherever she went and brought smiles and laughter to everyone she met,” said former WOAI news veteran Michael Main, who met Britton while working for a station in Austin in the ’80s. They reunited at WOAI twice – in the ’90s and early 2000s.

“She held a special place in a lot of hearts,” Main added, “including mine. I’ll miss her very much.”

Eileen Pace, formerly of WOAI and now at Texas Public Radio, wrote on her Facebook wall Sunday: “My heart is broken.

“Betsy was comical, talented and spirited and more than that, she was a good friend, a great mother and grandmother and she loved her family,” Pace added. “She loved her radio family, too, and we all will miss her.”

As recently as last November, Britton was celebrated by the Texas Radio Hall of Fame. “We are all comforted by the fact that just a few weeks ago, she was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame. It was wonderful she got to have her moment,” said Mark Carrillo, another veteran of local radio, who now makes his living as a voiceover artist.

See Britton’s tribute here:

Britton’s only child, Saundra Reyna, agreed her mom’s recent TRHF induction in Austin was a highlight. “We went with her,” Reyna said Sunday night. “She loved every minute. I was extremely proud of her.”

Reyna said that it was too early to know for sure what caused her mom’s death, but she believes she may have died in her sleep.

She said her mom suffered from COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), a progressive disease that makes it difficult to breathe.

“She’d been in and out of the hospital,” Reyna said Sunday night. “But last time I heard from her (on New Year’s Day), she was in good spirits.”

Farewell to 'Downton'

SAN ANTONIO — Good show!

Starting at 8 tonight on PBS, “Downton Abbey” bids its drama-packed farewell to viewers – including yours truly — who can’t get enough of the aristocratic Crawley family and the men and women who serve them.

In the sixth season premiere, which opens in 1925, Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) is as haughty and outspoken as ever – even when she’s hit with the threat of blackmail.

Downton continues to be affected by change and financial worries, which lead to the bleak prospect of downsizing the staff.

On a happier note, both downstairs and upstairs residents dive into preparations for the wedding of head butler Mr. Carson and housekeeper Mrs. Hughes — although the latter has some tender misgivings of the intimate sort.

Subsequent stories of the nine-episode final run are even juicier, as romance, scandal, crime, tragedy and a shocking health scare rock TV’s most famous British estate.

We’re also treated to a raging sister spat for the books between Mary and Edith.

Moreover, usually scheming under butler Thomas actually elicits tears of empathy in one of the most heart-stirring developments of the season.

I’m telling you, after binging on all eight episodes provided to the press, I not only anxiously await the ninth concluding hour, but dread the emptiness that undoubtedly will hit once this gem of a British drama waves its last goodbye.